
Purplish
Purplish is CPR News' weekly podcast about state politics, state government, Colorado policy, and political identity. This season the show is hosted by public affairs reporters Bente Birkeland and Andrew Kenney. Each week while the legislature is in session, they'll break down the latest developments, look ahead to what's next, and dive into the bigger picture of what it all means.
Latest episodes

Jan 6, 2022 • 21min
Remembering the January 6th Capitol Riot
When rioters broke into the U.S. Capitol a year ago, most members of the Colorado delegation were in the House and Senate chambers. A year later, the memories still haunt them.

Dec 9, 2021 • 17min
What’s ahead when the legislature returns?
It's beginning to look at lot like politics, at least for our public affairs team; everywhere they go they seem to be hearing about what's ahead at the legislature...

Nov 5, 2021 • 24min
Hey, did you hear there was an election?
And it gave us a lot to talk about.

Sep 30, 2021 • 17min
Colorado Has A Map — If The Court Approves
With minutes left on the clock, the congressional redistricting commission approved a new map. We give you the lowdown on what it looks like, what it means, and how commissioners got there.

Sep 24, 2021 • 15min
Redistricting Deadline Looms
Marathon Zoom sessions. Painstaking geographic descriptions. And the slow struggle toward something like consensus. We head inside the final days of the Congressional redistricting commission's work to see how they're trying to get it done.

Sep 10, 2021 • 20min
Competition Vs Commonalities — A Conundrum For Redistricting
Colorado is one of the few states where the rules for redistricting encourage competitive districts. But is competition really all it's cracked up to be?

Sep 8, 2021 • 15min
Colorado’s Got A Brand New Map (But It’s Not The Final Map – Yet)
Redistricting commission staff have released a new proposal that -- if adopted -- would make some dramatic changes to Colorado's congressional districts.

Sep 3, 2021 • 18min
Communities Urge Redistricting Commission To Consider The Ties That Bind
Two stories in this episode about different communities that are hoping to persuade the commissions to take their concerns into account as they draw their maps.

Sep 1, 2021 • 15min
A Road Trip Through Colorado’s (Maybe) 8th District
The first draft of the Congressional map puts the state's newest district north and east of Denver. We hit the road to hear what residents think of that idea.

Aug 27, 2021 • 17min
Redistricting Highlights Challenges To Latino Representation
Denver's Northside, historic home of the Chicano movement, has been getting whiter over the last decade. At the same time, some suburbs, like Commerce City, have seen their Latino populations increase. How Colorado's new political maps reflect these changes could have a big impact on the state's Latino representation.